Professional Documents
Culture Documents
This guide is based on the MLA Handbook, 8th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.
MLA Style
The Modern Language Association of America (MLA) style is only one citation method. Details about this style are found in
● the MLA Handbook (8th ed.), available in the MRU Bookstore and at the MRU Library Service Desk, and
● the MLA Style Center at style.mla.org/ for information on formatting research papers and sample papers in MLA style.
The guiding principles of the MLA Handbook (8th ed.) are [MLA 3-4]
● include common features (e.g., author, title) found in most sources in a citation,
● there is more than one correct way to create a citation for a source, and [MLA xii]
● citations should be useful for readers by providing enough information to locate the source.
In-Text Citations: Citing Sources within Your Academic Work [MLA 54-58]
Whenever you use a quotation or summarize or paraphrase someone else’s ideas or research, you must cite the source(s). Your in-text
citations and Works Cited list should correlate. In-text citations include two parts:
1) usually the surname of the author(s), but sometimes a title, whichever is the first element in your Works Cited list,
2) the page number (if available or other location indicator) appears in parentheses (parenthetical citation) after the author’s
name if the name is not included in your sentence. Example: (Laurence 167)
For more examples of how to incorporate in-text citations into your work, turn to page 2 of this guide.
Citing Short Quotations (four typed lines or fewer in your text) (see example on page 2) [MLA 75-76]
When you incorporate a direct quotation into a sentence, you must surround it with quotation marks and cite its source.
Citing Long Quotations (more than four typed lines in your text) (see example on page 2) [MLA 55, 75-77]
Keep your quotations a brief as possible, but if the quotation extends beyond four lines of type in your text, format it as follows:
● Use a block format in which all lines of the quotation are indented a half inch from the left margin,
● Do not use quotation marks around the long quotation,
● Generally, the quotation should be introduced with a complete sentence followed by a colon, and
● Include a parenthetical citation after the closing punctuation (usually a period).
Citing a Source Found/Cited in Another Source (see example on page 2) [MLA 124]
● If one of your sources quotes, paraphrases or mentions another source, and you wish to use this information in your work, you
must give credit to the original source as well as the source in which you found it.
● In your parenthetical citation, write qtd. in (quoted in) before the citation for the source you accessed.
● Whenever possible try to find the original source.
NOTE: Page numbers in square brackets refer to the MLA Handbook (8th ed.).
This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal University’s Student Learning Services and Library for 2017-2018.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
2
Sample In-text Citations
Short Quotation (Author’s name in a sentence)
Richmond and Smith state that “educational success is a well-established determinant of Aboriginal well-being” (14).
Long Quotation
In “Where the World Began,” Margaret Laurence reflects on the influence that her hometown has on how she sees the world:
A strange place it was, that place where the world began. A place of incredible happenings, splendors and revelations, despairs
like multitudinous pits of isolated hells. A place of shadow-spookiness, inhabited by the unknown dead. A place of jubilation
and of mourning, horrible and beautiful. It was, in fact, a small prairie town. Because that settlement and that land were my
first and for many years my only real knowledge of this planet, in some profound way they remain my world, my way of
viewing. (164)
Paraphrase
Margaret Laurence writes that her early years of living in a small prairie town shape her understanding of the world (164).
OR The author writes that her early years of living in a small prairie town shape her understanding of the world (Laurence 164).
Indirect Citation
A 2010 Auditor General’s report notes improvements in “educational success” among urban Indigenous youth; however, educational
success in the non-Indigenous population is significantly outpacing gains made by the Indigenous population (qtd. in Richmond and
Smith 1).
Citing Poetry
Short Quotations (see example on page 3) [MLA 77-79]
● Up to three lines of poetry that do not require special emphasis can be incorporated within your text.
● Individual lines should be separated with a slash and a space on each side ( / ).
● Use the original poem’s numbering system such as lines, divisions, or page numbers.
This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal University’s Student Learning Services and Library for 2017-2018.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
3
Long Quotations (see example below) [MLA 55, 77-79]
● Poetry quotations of more than three lines should begin on a new line.
● Indent lines a half inch from the left margin unless lines are indented inconsistently in the original poem, in which case, the
quotation should reflect the original layout.
● Use the original poem’s numbering system such as lines, divisions, or page numbers.
● Include a parenthetical citation after the closing punctuation (usually a period).
● Individual lines should be double-spaced.
This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal University’s Student Learning Services and Library for 2017-2018.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
4
More Tips for In-Text Citations
Tips Related to Authors
● If the author is unknown or the author is an organization that also published the source, use an abbreviated title including the
appropriate capitalization and quotation marks/italics format. [MLA 55-56, 117]
Example: (MLA Style 4) is a parenthetical citation for this page of this handout, MLA Style for Academic Work.
● For two authors, use “and” before the last author’s name. Example: (Richmond and Smith 3)
● For three or more authors, give only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” [MLA 116]
Example: (Hacker et al. 14)
● When stating an author’s name for the first time, use first and last names in your sentence. For subsequent citations, use only
the last name in your sentence. [MLA 61-62]
● If your Works Cited list includes more than one work by the same author, provide a title or abbreviated title following the
author’s name in your parenthetical citation. [MLA 55]
Example: (Harris, “The Unrepentant” 674)
● When an idea can be attributed to more than one source in your Works Cited list, separate the sources with a semicolon.
Example: (Laurence 165; Richmond and Smith 5) [MLA 58]
In “Where the World Began,” Margaret Laurence describes her small prairie hometown as “a place of jubilation and of mourning,
horrible and beautiful” (164).
● To leave out part of a quotation, insert ellipses (three periods with a space before and after each period) where the omission
occurs. This may be necessary for grammar or removal of unnecessary information. In the example below, the first period is a
full stop while the others are ellipses.
[MLA 80]
Laurence reflects on her home as “a strange place it was, that place where the world began. . . . It was, in fact, a small prairie town”
(164).
● To add or slightly change words within a quotation for grammar or clarity, put square brackets around the change.
[MLA 86]
The researchers report that “embracing [capacity-building and knowledge formation] principles ensured that the research was
conducted with Wabano in a culturally appropriate way” (Richmond and Smith 4).
● When citing material already enclosed in quotation marks, such as dialogue or a title within a title, replace the double
quotation marks in the original with single quotation marks. Then, surround the entire quotation with double quotation marks.
[MLA 71, 87]
Laurence recalls strange things in her town as being “‘funny ha ha’; others were ‘funny peculiar,’” while some were “not so very
funny at all” (166).
This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal University’s Student Learning Services and Library for 2017-2018.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
5
Creating the Works Cited List [MLA 20-50]
● Accuracy in your Works Cited list is important to help readers find the particular sources you have used.
● Fill in the MLA Template (shown below) with as much information as relevant/available from each source.
● Assemble the information into a citation using the punctuation given in the Template.
● If information for a particular element is irrelevant or unavailable, simply omit that element.
4 Other contributors,
5 Version,
6 Number,
7 Publisher,
8 Publication date,
9 Location.
Grassy Narrows First Nation Youth, performers. “Home to Me.” N’we Jinan, 2 Apr. 2016, nwejinan.com/home-grassy-narrows-first-
nation-song-released/.
Laurence, Margaret. “Where the World Began.” The Broadview Anthology of Expository Prose, edited by Laura Buzzard et al., 2nd
Richmond, Chantelle A. M., and Dawn Smith. “Sense of Belonging in the Urban School Environments of Aboriginal Youth.” The
International Indigenous Policy Journal, vol. 3, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1-17. ProQuest, doi:10.18584/iipj.2012.3.1.1.
This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal University’s Student Learning Services and Library for 2017-2018.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
6
Explanation of Core Elements
1 Author.
[MLA 21-25]
● Enter author’s name as Last, First. Write initials and middle names as they appear in the source. Do not reduce a spelled-out
middle name to its initial.
● Include multiple authors in the same order as in the source material.
o Two authors:
Example: Richmond, Chantelle A. M., and Dawn Smith.
(Last Name, First Name) (First Name Last Name)
o Three or more authors: Follow the first author’s name with “, et al.”
Example: Doe, Jane, et al.
● The author is the creator of the work’s main content and can be a person or corporate author (government agency,
organization, company, etc.). [MLA 104]
● If someone other than an author is responsible for producing the work, it can be useful to enter their name followed by a label
(editor, translator, performer, creator) in order to add clarity to the citation.
Example: Grassy Narrows First Nation Youth, performers. [MLA 24]
● If there is no author, leave this field blank and begin the entry with the title.
● Capitalize each major word of the title, and end with a period. If there is a subtitle, use this format: Title: Subtitle.
● Italicize the title if the source is self-contained, such as a book, a web site, a journal, or an album.
Example: The Broadview Anthology of Expository Prose.
● Place the title in quotation marks if the source is part of a larger work, such as an essay or chapter in a book, content on a
web site, an article in a journal, or a song on an album. The period is placed within the quotation marks.
Example: “Where the World Began.”
3 Title of Container,
[MLA 30-36]
● The title of the container is normally italicized because most containers are self-contained. Follow it with a comma.
● Containers are the larger whole that a smaller source is a part of. Examples of containers: journals, newspapers, books with
individually authored chapters, web sites, or series (TV, podcast, Netflix, etc.).
● Sources can have more than one container if the source is nested within other sources.
Examples of sources with two containers:
○ A short story is contained within a book, and that book is contained within Google Books.
○ A journal article is contained within a journal, and that journal is contained within the JSTOR database.
○ An episode is contained within its series, which is contained within Netflix.
4 Other contributors,
[MLA 37-38]
● Precede each name (or names) with “by” and a description of their role. Give the first name followed by the last name. If there
are three or more contributors give only the first name, followed by “et al.,”
Example: edited by Laura Buzzard et al.,
● Book editor(s) need to be credited in addition to the author of a chapter/story/play/poem.
● List as many other contributors as are relevant to your assignment, or if they help differentiate the source from others like it.
Examples of contributor roles: adapted by, directed by, illustrated by, translated by.
5 Version,
[MLA 38-39]
● If the source has a version or edition statement, identify it using the language given in the source.
Examples of versions: edition (ed.), revised (rev.), director’s cut.
● Write ordinal numbers with arabic numerals. Example: 2nd ed., [MLA 107]
This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal University’s Student Learning Services and Library for 2017-2018.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
7
6 Number,
[MLA 39-40]
● If the source is part of a numbered sequence, indicate the type of number, followed by the number.
Examples of numbered sequences: volume (vol.), issue (no.), season, episode, year.
Examples: vol. 3, no. 1, or vol. 61, no. 3, or Spring 2009,
7 Publisher,
[MLA 40-42, 97]
8 Publication date,
[MLA 42-46, 50-51, 94]
● Give the publication date (and time if available) using as much information as listed in the source.
● Enter the date as day-month-year. Abbreviate names of months that are longer than four letters.
Examples: 12 Jan. 2017, or 25 July 2017, or Spring 2016, or 10:30 p.m.,
● Sources may have multiple publication dates: give the date that corresponds with the specific source you have access to.
Examples: For a book, give the most recent date (that corresponds to the specific edition/version you have). For an online
publication, give the date it appeared online, not in print (if there is a difference).
9 Location.
[MLA 46-50, 110]
● Location may be a location within a source (page numbers, disc number), a web address (URL), a digital object identifier
(DOI), or a physical location (building, venue, city).
○ Omit http:// and https:// from a web address (URL).
○ It may be helpful to your reader to make your links clickable, especially if you are submitting an assignment
electronically. [MLA 48]
● Note that location does not refer to the city of publication.
● For single page numbers, use p. For a range of pages, use pp.
Example: p. 165 (single page), or pp. 164-69 (a range of pages)
● For online journal articles, cite a DOI if there is one. If there is no DOI, cite the web address (URL).
○ A DOI is a series of numbers (and sometimes letters) preceded by ‘doi:’. DOIs can be searched in web browsers.
Example of a DOI: doi:10.1080/07377363.2013.836823
10 Optional elements.
● If a source has been republished, it can be useful to provide the date of original publication. Place this date after the title of the
source. [MLA 50]
● For online sources without a listed publication date or with content that may change or be removed, give the date you accessed
the source.
Example: Accessed 29 June 2017. [MLA 53]
This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal University’s Student Learning Services and Library for 2017-2018.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
8
Sample Citations Using the MLA Core Elements Template
“Title of Source.” / Title of Source. Title is in quotation marks because the essay is part of a
“Where the World Began.” larger work (the book). [MLA 25-29]
Container 1
3 Title of Container, The container is the book the essay is found in. It is
The Broadview Anthology of Expository Prose, italicized because it is self-contained. [MLA 25-29]
4 Other contributors, Use “et al.” if there are three or more contributors.
edited by Laura Buzzard et al., [MLA 38]
8 Publication date, This is the publication date of the container. If the original
2011, publication date of the essay is important to your context,
put it immediately after the Title of Source. [MLA 50-51]
2 “Title of Source.” / Title of Source. Title is in quotation marks because the video is part of a
“Home to Me.” larger work (the web site). [MLA 25-29]
Container 1
3 Title of Container, The container is the web site where the video is embedded.
N’we Jinan, Web sites are self-contained, so use italics. [MLA 25-29]
4 Other contributors,
5 Version,
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Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
9
6 Number,
8 Publication date,
Enter the date as day-month-year. Abbreviate names of
2 Apr. 2016,
months that are longer than four letters. [MLA 94-95]
2 “Title of Source.” / Title of Source. Title is in quotation marks because a journal article is part
“Sense of Belonging in the Urban School Environments of of a larger work (the journal). [MLA 25-29]
Aboriginal Youth.”
Container 1
3 Title of Container, The container is the journal that the article is found in.
The International Indigenous Policy Journal, Journals are self-contained, so use italics. [MLA 25-29]
4 Other contributors,
5 Version,
7 Publisher,
8 Publication date,
2012,
9 Location.
pp. 1-17.
Container 2
3 Title of Container, ProQuest is given as the second container rather than as the
ProQuest, publisher because ProQuest does not produce the content,
only houses it. [MLA 42]
4 Other contributors,
5 Version,
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Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
10
6 Number,
7 Publisher,
8 Publication date,
A. Books
A1 Book with one author Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Signet Classics, 2002.
A2 Book / manual with two Robitaille, Julie, and Robert Connelly. Writer’s Resources: From Paragraph to Essay. 2nd ed.,
authors, edition stated
Doubleday, 2004.
[MLA 107]
A3 Book with three or more Downing, Lyn, et al. Students in Our Midst. Doubleday, 2007.
authors
[MLA 22]
A4 Bible and other sacred The Holy Bible. New International Version, Zondervan, 1978.
writings, editor unknown
NOTE: When using a reference that starts with “a,” “an,” or “the,” use the next word of the entry to
[MLA 38, 107]
alphabetize the entry on the Works Cited list. [MLA 115]
A5 E-book, accessed from Bayers, Peter L. Imperial Ascent: Mountaineering, Masculinity, and Empire. UP of Colorado, 2003.
library subscription with
Ebook Central, ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/mtroyal-
print publication date
ebooks/reader.action?docID=3039680.
NOTE: Abbreviate University Press to UP. [MLA 41, 97]
A6 E-book, found through a Hoover, Thomas. The Zen Experience. Plume, 1980. Project Gutenberg,
web search
www.gutenberg.org/files/34325/34325-
pdf.pdf?session_id=7803c3545592bec4d079d263ac94abdb974c77b6.
A7 Graphic novel (where Beddor, Frank, and Liz Cavalier. HatterM: The Looking Glass Wars. Illustrated by Ben
your discussion focuses on
Templesmith, Automatic Pictures, 2008.
the text rather than the
artwork of the novel)
[MLA 37]
A8 Graphic novel (where Templesmith, Ben, artist. HatterM: The Looking Glass Wars. Written by Frank Beddor and Liz
your discussion focuses on
Cavalier, Automatic Pictures, 2008.
the artwork rather than
the text of the novel)
[MLA 24]
This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal University’s Student Learning Services and Library for 2017-2018.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
11
B. Entries or Chapters in Edited Books or Encyclopedia
NOTE: Book editor(s) need to be credited in addition to the author(s) of the chapter/story/play/poem.
B1 Chapter with author(s) in Smith, Fiona M., and Wendy Jones. “The College Student.” Cross-Cultural Education, edited by
an edited book
Charles Wood, MacMillan, 2004, pp. 75-105.
[MLA 37]
B2 Introduction with title in Sullivan, Rosemary, and Mark Levene. “The House of Fiction.” Introduction. Short Fiction: An
an edited anthology,
Anthology, edited by Sullivan and Levene, Oxford UP, 2003, pp. 4-12.
authors same as editors
[MLA 103, 106]
B3 Editors’ commentary Thompson, Ann, and Neil Taylor. Preface. Hamlet, written by William Shakespeare, 2nd rev. ed.,
without a title in a
Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2016, p. ix.
scholarly edition of a play
[MLA 106]
B4 Journal article reprinted Mayhew, Matthew J., and Sonia Deluca Fernandez. “Pedagogical Practices That Contribute to Social
in a course pack (i.e., two
Justice Outcomes.” Review of Higher Education, vol. 31, no. 1, 2007, pp. 55-80. SLGY
containers)
[MLA 96] 2155: Supplementary Readings, compiled by Isha Sharma, Mount Royal U, 2016, pp. 10-35.
B5 Short story in an edited O’Connor, Flannery. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” 1953. The Realm of Fiction: Seventy-
book, with original
Four Stories, edited by James B. Hall and Elizabeth C. Hall, McGraw, 2007, pp. 488-99.
publication date provided
[MLA 50, 103]
B6 Article or definition in “Raphael: Italian Painter and Architect.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 May 2016,
online encyclopedia,
www.britannica.com/biography/Raphael-Italian-painter-and-architect.
author unknown
[MLA 24-25]
C2 Scholarly journal article, Barker, Roberta, et al. “Archival Collaborations: Using Theatre Archives to Teach Canadian Theatre
three authors, from a History and Archival Literacy.” Canadian Theatre Review, vol. 156, Fall 2013, pp. 46-51.
library database
[MLA 22] Project Muse, doi:10.3138/ctr.156.009.
C3 Review of a book, in a Ioppolo, Grace. Review of Hamlet in Purgatory, by Stephen Greenblatt. The Modern Language
journal, from a library
Review, vol. 98, no. 2, 2003, pp. 432-33. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/3737834.
database
[MLA 29]
C4 Newspaper article, online “Police in Germany Raid Several Homes in Search of Stolen Canadian Gold Coin.” The Toronto Star,
nonperiodical version,
author unknown, not 12 July 2017, www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/07/12/police-in-germany-raid-several-
from a library database homes-in-search-of-stolen-canadian-gold-coin.html.
[MLA 24]
C5 Magazine article, with Wells, Paul. “Our Universities Can Be Smarter.” Maclean’s, 28 July 2009, pp. 32-34. Proquest,
author, periodical version
libproxy.mtroyal.ca/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/218528403?accountid=1
from a library database
343.
NOTE: If no DOI is available, use the stable or persistent link to the article.
This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal University’s Student Learning Services and Library for 2017-2018.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.
12
C6 Magazine article, with Wells, Paul. “Our Universities Can Be Smarter.” Maclean’s, 28 July 2009,
author, from magazine’s www.macleans.ca/news/canada/our-universities-can-be-smarter.
website
E. Various Media
E1 Image with unknown Drawing of the Riddell Library and Learning Centre. Mount Royal University,
creator and no title,
www.mtroyal.ca/Library/LibraryLearningCentre/index.htm. Accessed 12 July 2017.
found on a website
[MLA 28-29]
E2 Image with known Dyck, Darryl. Photo of wildfire near Cache Creek, B.C. “B.C. Wildfires Force Shutdown of Forestry
creator but no title, in an
Mills,” written by Brent Jang and Kelly Cryderman, 11 July 2017. The Globe and Mail,
article, found on website
www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/fires-hit-
canadas-lumber-mills-get-close-to-kinder-morgan-pipeline/article35652677/.
E3 Work of visual art, Peterson, Mark. Image of Homelessness. 1994. Seeing and Writing 4, written by Donald McQuade and
known creator and title,
Christine McQuade, 4th ed., Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010, p. 169.
found in a book
[MLA 50]
E4 Work of visual art, on Botticelli, Sandro. Venus and Mars. 1485. The National Gallery,
museum website
[MLA Style Center] www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/sandro-botticelli-venus-and-mars.
NOTE: For more on citing images, see the separate document at mru.ca/referencing.
E5 Video on YouTube Frank, Thomas. “How to Read Your Textbooks More Efficiently – College Info Geek.” YouTube, 20
Nov. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgVjmFSx7rg.
E6 TED Talk Galperin, Karina. “Should We Simplify Spelling?” TED, Sept. 2015,
www.ted.com/talks/karina_galperin_why_don_t_we_write_words_the_way_pronounce_them.
E7 Song on a streaming Simon, Paul. “The Obvious Child.” The Essential Paul Simon, 2007, track 25. Spotify,
service
open.spotify.com/album/4kdOH3s9cRL9YykvHFpSlD.
This handout has been compiled and revised by Mount Royal University’s Student Learning Services and Library for 2017-2018.
Please consult them for more information on documentation or go to style.mla.org/.